The US is launching a new effort to develop next-gen military batteries capable of delivering significantly higher endurance and power output for future battlefield systems.
Led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the initiative seeks rechargeable batteries that could provide five to 10 times more energy per unit than current technologies.
Under the DARPA-PS-26-118 solicitation, developers will be tasked with advancing foundational cell chemistry, materials, and battery architectures.
The effort falls under the Expeditionary Power- and Energy-Dense Implementations program, with abstract submissions due this month and full proposals expected in August 2026.
It will run for 36 months across two 18-month phases beginning in January 2027, with multiple prototype awards planned under Other Transaction Agreements.
Solving the Energy-Power Imbalance
Current battery technologies remain constrained by a longstanding tradeoff between how much energy they can store and how quickly they can deliver it.
The challenge is typically measured through two factors: energy density, or the amount of energy stored per unit weight, and power density, which refers to how quickly that energy can be discharged.
Military systems often require both sustained endurance and rapid bursts of power from the same energy source.
For example, surveillance drones operating over a target for extended periods demand high energy endurance, while strike drones require rapid power delivery for aggressive maneuvering.
DARPA’s effort aims to solve this imbalance through rechargeable batteries capable of combining long-duration energy storage with fast power output.
